THE JUDGMENT OF THE JAGUAR
by Rick Cavalla
Summary: Jagwar and the mutanimals punishing a reckless human in the rainforest of Brazil.


Yeah, I found an old comicbook again, the "Mutanimals". Must have been a comic series way back in the 1990th, and I only have two of them, but it was quite entertaining, featuring the well-known Ninja Turtles and other anthro animals. One of the stories is taking place in brazil, with the Mutanimals fighting against a group of ruthless humans exploiting the rainforest. One of the characters here is an anthropomorphic jaguar called Jagwar, and as I took a look at my old comics I did a short story about him.

**THE JUDGMENT OF THE JAGUAR**

The man shivers in fear. It all had happened so suddenly, so he is still in a state of shock, unable to believe that everything changed.

As the four turtle mutants lead him out of his camp, deeply within the rainforest of brazil, he can't believe what he sees. His men, trained mercenaries, armed with guns, are dead or captured, with dozens of dead mercenaries lying around his tent... they tried their best to defend him... in vain.

He doesn't want to follow these strange anthropomorphic turtles, but there's no escape here... for his arms are tied on his back with thick ropes, and his legs work automatically, step for step for step.

Around his demolished camp he spots more bodies... mercenaries as well as indians. Still the situation is so bizarre... only hours ago he was one of the wealthiest men around, his Hacienda being so proud and beautiful. His army controled everything, the indians never stood a chance against guns and grenades. He had pushed the local tribes further and further back, took their land, cut down the forest... and he did that again and again and again.

And suddenly everything was different.

Suddenly these strange turtle mutants appeared. Suddenly they were there, helping the indians, using ninja techniques against his men, sabotaging his plans. At first it only was annoying, but then his men suffered defeat after defeat. And then he really got angry and decided to wipe out these ninja turtles and the indians once and for all!

And it was a massacre... but not the massacre intended to be.

He still can't believe that his well armed men were beaten. But they didn't stand a chance against the indians, it was as if... as if nature allied with these indio tribes. The forest spew them out in large numbers, dozens... hundreds... his men were finally slain, his elite troops killed by the turtle mutants and two other strange beings. He didn't get a look at these other two mutants yet, for he tried and hide in his camp, letting his men do the fighting.

But now the turtles were escorting him along a small path leading through the dense forest. It's silent... only the footsteps can be heard. It is as if nature itself is pausing from this battle.

Finally he is brought to a clearing with a small river. And then he spots the other two mutants... and his desperation grows. One of them is a wolf, also walking on two legs, just like the turtles. He is as tall as the human, with a grey fur, but his face is black, giving him an intimidating appearance. Slowly the wolf walks up to the turtles, eyeing the human. „Is he the one, Leonardo?" he asks one of the turtles, pointing at the shivering man. „Yes, Dreadmon", the turtle replies. „We got him alive, as planned." „Good..." The wolf walks up close to the man. His body is trembling, and the man realizes that the wolf is struggling not to kill the scared human in front of him. „Jagwar will take care of him..." he just hisses, grabbing the man's shoulder and pushing him forward to the other mutant, an anthropomorphic jaguar with the typical orange fur and black spotted pattern. He's wearing black shorts and an old pair of boots. „Kneel down!" Dreadmon growls, and the man quickly obeys, kneeling down in front of the jaguar.

„Ricardo Nunez?" the jaguar asks.

The man slowly nods.

Jagwar sighs, his face showing a sad expression. „You are here because nature wants to stop your crimes. Crimes that..." He swallows hard. „...that go beyond everything I ever saw..."

„I... you can't..." the man tries, but is interrupted by the wolf that grabs his neck and squeezes it violently. „Shut up, human!"

„Dreadmon! Don't..." The jaguar's voice is soft, even gentle. „You destroyed large amounts of this forest, Ricardo Nunez... you killed dozens of indians... and you wouldn''t have stopped that if we wouldn't have pitted ourselves against you. Now the forest is soaked with blood... that of your men, that of the indians. And I am the one who will end this... for good."

„I... no, I... I don't wanna die, I..." Panic strikes the heart of the human.

„The only thing I can do for you is to grant you the choice of the elements...", Jagwar continues with his calm voice. „Water, earth, fire, air. What do you choose?"

„I... don't understand..." the man stammers.

„Water means that you will be drowned in the river, letting your soul become one with this pure element. Earth means that I will lead you to an area near the river consisting of quicksand. The quicksand will pull you down and make you one with the earth. Fire means that your life will end on a pyre, your body being consumed and turned to ashes. And air means that your lungs will be prevented from keeping you alive, so your body won't be hurt. As air is the cleanest element, this will be the cleanest death."

The human's eyes widen. „No... NO..."

„Choose now, Ricardo Nunez."

„I... don't wanna drown or burn!" the human cries. „I..."

„So you choose air", Jagwar nods. „Put him in position, Dreadmon." The jaguar walks up to a tree stump and sits down. Dreadmon and the turtles shove the yelling and crying human to the stump, forcing him to lay down on his back in front of it.

Jagwar looks down on the human, pinned by the turtles and the wolf. „Accept your fate, human", he says. „The less you struggle, the less pain you will feel." Jagwar reaches down and unties the laces of his trekking boots. Slowly taking the left one off, he reveals his bare foot... large and plantigrade. Again the eyes of the human widen as Jagwar holds the foot up close to his face. The heavy musk hits the human's nose. „I wore these boots during the battle", the jaguar says. „Now my foot will let you smell the emotions I had... fear, sadness, angst, but also hate and an unbelievable rage..." Slowly Jagwar lowers his foot, pressing it into the human's face.

„No... NO... NOO..MPPFFF!" the human gags as the bare sole is pressed onto his face, blocking his mouth. „MMMPF!" The foot is warm and moist, the musk simply overpowering. The human thrashes and kicks his legs, but with the four turtles pinning him down and the wolf kneeling behind, wedging the human's head between his knees, there is no escape. Breath for breath the human takes in the heavy smell of the jaguar's foot. Jagwar pulls the foot back, letting the moist sole slide all over the human's face, until the nose of the human is wedged inbetween the three toes. „NNNNN!" the human gasps, as the sweaty toes curl around his nose, and his struggling increases as the jaguar finally also takes off his other boot.

As the jaguar mutant presses his other foot onto the human's face, Ricardo Nunez panics. His face is now completely buried underneath two sweaty, musky soles. It feels as if two wet towels, soaked with hot water, are pressed into his face. The smell is thick and sour, the fur on the back of the feet literally wet. Furred feet and tight trekking boots certainly don't go together well. „MMMFFF!" the human gasps as the heavy smell fills his lungs. „Sniff, human..." the jaguar replies. „Sniff and try to understand my emotions." His toes greedily splay and curl, as if they try to pull the human's nose deeper into their musky prison.

Finally the jaguar lifts his feet a bit, allowing the human to breathe clean oxygen again. „Now prepare for your last journey", Jagwar whispers. „And may nature accept your soul." Again he lowers his big feet down onto the humans face.

„NO!" Ricardo Nunez yells as he now realizes what the jaguar has in mind. But again Jagwar's feet silence him effectively as they are pressed into his face. The human desperately thrashes as the jaguar positions his feet. This time, however, he doesn't let the human sniff his feet... this time the balls of his feet are pressed onto the human's mouth, silencing his screams. The toes splay, feeling for the nose of their victim and slowly curl around the human's nose. Then the jaguar curls his toes tightly and applies more and more pressure. Finally the breathing of the human stops, after some last muffled gasps, tightly smothered underneath the jaguars paws.

The human panics as the feet finally prevent him from breathing at all. Now he LONGS for the sour musk! He would sniff the jaguar's feet as often as the cat wishes, if he just WAS able to breathe again. But the grasp is too tight. The moist soles and balls of the feet blocking his mouth, the toes pressing against his nostrils, with him unable to move his head. His eyes widen and his face slowly turns bluish, his fingers desperately trying to loosen the ropes around his wrists as his last seconds tick away.

As his lungs burn for air, his last thoughts rush through his mind... asphyxiated by jaguar feet! What a way to go!

Jagwar sadly looks down on the struggling human being, suffocating underneath his feet. Calmly the jaguar concentrates on his victim. The human desperately tries to stick his nose out from between the toes, to get air, but Jagwar repositions them by quickly splaying and curling them around the nose again.

„Surrender, human..." the jaguar says softly. „It will go a bit faster, then."

But the human kicks and struggles, only now realising what it means to be alive. Realising it far too late.

As his air starts to run out, he, in a last effort to survive, tries to rear up, but the jaguar mercilessly holds him down, forcing him back into the smothering grasp of his musky feet. Finally the oxygen inside his lungs is used up, and the suffocation process begins. Gargling and thrashing the human's eyes widen one last time... then he slumps back... and stops moving, lying still, his dead eyes staring into the blue sky.

Jagwar keeps the human in his footsmotherhold until he is sure that his victim is drained from every bit of life. Slowly taking his feet off of the human's face he gets up and sighs again. „May you now become a part of that what you always tried to destroy", he whispers and walks off, back to his friends, back to the healing spirits of the green deserts of the rainforest.


End file.
